Meet in the Middle
by antipathicArtifice
Summary: AU. Edd is traveling in a caravan to the west, where they plan to join a new settlement near the coast. The winter is approaching, and they make a final stop before the hardest part of their journey: the mountains. As everyone stocks up on supplies, Edd discovers a boy left alone in the settlement. Determined, he decides that his new goal is to make the boy named Kevin smile again.


Dusk had just barely fallen and the night was still young when they saw it. As they neared the peak of what was the final hill they could see the lights out in the distance, the torches and fires of the outpost. Eddward nearly fell out of the wagon in excitement as he rushed to the opening at the sound of his father calling out to him that they had nearly arrived. After many weeks of travelling in the caravan, he was excited to not have the same routine every day. Though he loved his routines it was nice to have a little change for once, even if it was just for a few days. The outpost they were stopping at now was one of the smaller ones, but it was still better then setting up camp for another night. And beds. Edd could not wait to sleep in a bed again. He also knew they could restock supplies here, he knew rations were running low and the cold weather was closing in fast. The caravan decided to stop here and spend a few days in this area especially so that they could prepare for the winter ahead. Though it was farther and harder to get to than many of the other possible stops, they heard this one was known for its generosity, and with the longest leg of their journey ahead of them they needed to stockpile alot of supplies at once. The upcoming trek was supposedly over very mountainous terrain, so their horses would need a good rest before they had to make that trip. Just over the mountains was a makeshift city, and though that one in particular was not their final destination it would be a great place to stop again and resupply. If everything was on schedule, they would make it there just after winter ended.

The boy felt the wagon stop, and he knew the leader was talking to the guards. There was a war on, and though the front was all the way to the east coast nobody could be too careful. It was people like them that Edd admired, those trying to prevent the war from spreading any further than it had to. He was not a fan of unnecesary violence, which to him, was almost all violence. In fact the war on the far end of the continent was one of the many reasons his family joined the group and headed westward. And by his family, he meant just his dad and himself. His mother died in childbirth and he had no siblings. He was raised by his father, though they did not really share an extremely close bond. Edd didn't mind, he embraced the opportunity to make discoveries and take his own path in life. He did, however, enjoy the bonding time he had with his dad on this journey. He felt much closer to him, and they certainly trusted eachother more.

They started moving once again, going to the stables to check in the horses, lining up the wagons nearby. Edd stuffed a backpack with a couple sets of clothes and filled a little pouch on his belt with a few coins and exited, and was immediately given a paper by his father.  
"There are guards posted around the area to prevent thieves from looting the wagons, and they won't let you into ours without this," He explained. The raven-haired boy looked over the paper real quick before folding and safely storing it in a different belt pouch. "Also, we have the sixteenth room in that building," he said, pointing to one of the largest buildings in the small settlement. "I'll get all the food we need for the journey tomorrow afternoon, you can get some blankets and other supplies we may need. You know that kind of stuff better than I do. Here's a few gold, go ahead and pick up something for yourself too. My treat." Edd's father said, handing the smiling boy a few coins and then leaving. Edd was very fortunate, many times when they stopped somewhere he was allowed to pick up something for himself. Not many of the travelers had many personal objects, and though he only had a few he was very grateful for them. Many were books and journals, containing notes from himself and others about various topics: cooking, wildlife, plants, even a short medical journal. He knew all of them would be very beneficial to the group on the trip. In between pages of information, Edd would occasionally tell about an experience he had on the trip, if something noteworthy happened that day. That wasn't very often; however, and such pages have since turned into little scrawlings in the margins of informational paragraphs. He didn't like how disorganized it looked, but he had eventually decided conserving paper was more important.

He headed off in this own direction, towards the marketplace. Many merchants were set up selling many different things, and it was strange at first seeing so many people again. He found his way around quite easily in the standard setup, and about an hour later left with two new blankets, a journal and pencil, three more canteens he knew they certainly needed, and a new pocketknife, because he knew his father's was dull and that the man wouldn't think to replace it. He only spent about half of the little amount given to him, knowing he would think of more things they needed and use some of the money for his meals for the next few days the raven-haired boy stashed the remains in the coin pouch. He knew their journey would resume not tomorrow but certainly the day after. The group was bent on arriving at the little town a bit before the end of winter, and though it was very unlikely he knew the enthusiasm would keep spirits high during the grey season.  
Edd returned to the wagon, after showing his paper and being escorted there, and dropped off the blankets and canteens. He then retreated into the building pointed out earlier by his father and went to the sixteenth room, located all the way at the end of the hallway. He knocked thrice and was soon let in by his father, who seemed half-asleep as it was. The raven-haired boy wasted no time getting into the comfortable bed and going to sleep.

The next morning he woke awake and refreshed nice and early in the morning. He got out of his bed and got dressed quietly, seeing as his father was still asleep in the other bed across the room. After making sure everything was in check around their temporary residence, Edd took the journal he bought yesterday and put it carefully in his backpack, slung it on his shoulders, and headed out the door into the brisk morning air. Today, he decided, was dedicated to exploring. There seemed to be a very positive atmosphere about the little town, and Edd briefly recalls passing by an overlook of the area around them while finding his way around the outpost the previous night. That was his first destination, and he would wing it from there. He did not entirely enjoy how unstructured his schedule was, but he was okay with it being that way for just a few days every now and then.

He kept walking, in search of whatever it was he saw last night. As his eyes roamed the area he searched absently, until he saw it. A boy, probably his age, sitting in the dirt, back against a support beam for a butcher's shop with a can in front of him. Even though he was out of the way he stood out, on account of the orange hair he sported. Ed was fascinated. He was very far away from home, the raven-haired boy remembered reading somewhere that people with orange hair were from Scotland or Ireland, but considering Edd's own family moved from Wales he supposed it wasn't unrealistic that he was here. What did seem odd, however, was that there was a beggar all the way out here. That was usually something only cities had, and he has yet to stop at an outpost where there was a beggar. The thing about the small settlements was that nobody stayed for long. He looked once again at the redheaded boy sitting alone, and decided that he wanted to know his story. Wanted to try and help him. With his new goal in mind, he strode over to were the boy sat, determined to put a smile on that sorrowful face once again.


End file.
